Oceans of Time
by CloudNumber9
Summary: Makoto, now in college, has accepted the fact that she will never see Chiaki again. But when mysterious things start happening to her she wonders whether or not they have a connection with leaping.
1. Prologue

**Oceans of Time**

**~Prologue~**

"Foul!" Chiaki shouted as he ran to catch the ball.

"Gah! Why can't I hit it right!" Makoto exclaimed as she hit the bat against the base in frustration.

"Hold your hands closer together," Kosuke said demonstrating by holding his hands the way he said in the air, "and align your knuckles more."

"Like this?"

"Yeah."

A nice breeze relieved them of the summer heat. It was a nice day. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky but it was much too hot for comfort. Most of Tokyo was inside with their air conditioners on full blast, but not these three.

"Alright," Chiaki returned with the ball and tossed it to Kosuke. He took a pitching pose then threw it.

Makoto swung the bat through the air and it collided with the ball.

"CHEYEA!" she shouted as the ball sailed in the right direction.

"Nice one!" Chiaki shouted chasing after it. He picked the ball up and was about to throw it back over but stopped and looked in the direction of the road.

"Hey Chiaki! Hurry it up!" Makoto shouted.

"Yeah, yeah! Hold your horses!" he said running back over, "Did you guys see anything just now?" he asked receiving weird looks from his friends.

"You're going crazy," Kosuke said. Chiaki threw the ball at him and he caught it just before it hit him in the face.

"Jeez," Kosuke complained shaking his wrist out, "Don't throw so hard!"

"I'm being serious!"

"I didn't see anything," Makoto said.

"Tch…" Chiaki looked back over his shoulder. He couldn't shake this bad feeling that had overcome him.

"Eh! Let's go get some ice cream," Makoto said fanning herself, "I'm getting too hot."

"You're such a girly girl!"

"Am not!" Makoto shouted chasing after Chiaki with the bat.

Kosuke put his palm to his forehead, "I have two children for friends."

Makoto's and Chiaki's voices echoed down the street as a man in a dark overcoat walked away. This would do, he thought smirking. This would do very well.


	2. Chapter One

**Oceans of Time  
~Chapter One~**

Days like this were so stressful. Heavy workload from each class topped off with five hours of work to help pay for tuition. Makoto wondered sometimes why she even bothered getting an English degree. Her Grandfather had offered to help her find a job in the Tsukiji district fish market where he had connections but she didn't even want to imagine handling fish for the rest of her life. Thinking about that made her feel a little bit better about the path she was on now.

Writing was something that had taken a place in her life over the last few years. It was a big stress reliever and it felt nice to write her thoughts down on paper. It was the only thing that would listen to her without thinking she was crazy. Besides her Aunt that is. Auntie Majo had always listened to her when she rambled on about things that would make other people believe that she was insane. But her Aunt wasn't there all the time, especially now that she was engaged.

Makoto dropped her bag off just inside the door of her dorm room before going to the washroom to change out of her work uniform. She had lived with her parents in her first semester of University thinking it would be a good way to save money but between school, work, and all the time she spent on the subway, it barely left any time for homework. Even now, in her third year of University and living on campus, she was still struggling to be in the top percentile.

After she was done showering she sat down at her laptop and began working on her final essay. She had begun working on it three months in advance knowing full well that leaving things till the last minute was a very bad idea. Still, after two hours of organizing information, she was ready to call it quits. She closed most of the files she had up before opening a document titled 'The Boy From the Future.' After that she was consumed in her writing until her roommate, Yuuka, returned carrying a load of books.

"Long day at the Library?" Makoto asked as Yuuka dropped her books off on her desk with a loud thud.

"Yeah, Professor Kobayashi was born to torture. Twenty page essay due in two weeks."

"Jeez..."

"I know, but I'm calling it quits for the day. Have you had dinner yet?" She asked walking into the washroom to adjust her hair and makeup.

"Not yet, no."

"I'm craving McDonald's. Want to join me?"

"Aren't you on a diet?"

"Don't even start."

"How about Yamada's diner? It's closer."

Yuuka sighed heavily, "Alright let's go."

At first Yuuka ordered a small salad and a diet Pepsi but then she cracked down and was going to go all out. Makoto stopped her by offering her some of her fries.

"Makoto, I don't know who's ever kept me on track with my diet better than you."

"Glad to hear it."

"No really! You're saving me from love handles!" she said it like it was the worst thing in the world. Makoto laughed at this.

"No problem."

"By the way, do you know that guy sitting at that booth over there?" Yuuka asked nodding in the direction she was speaking of from her seat at the bar, while lifting her drink and sipping from the straw.

"Who?" Makoto asked turning her head slightly to look from the corner of her eye.

"He's wearing a dress hat and an overcoat. Kind of looks like a blast from the past."

Makoto finally spotted him. He was reading a newspaper and the shadow of his hat hid his face. If you replaced his cigarette with a cigar, he would look like he was plucked right out of the roaring twenties.

"Nope," Makoto turned back around, "never seen him before in my life."

"Well he's been staring at you the whole time we've been here."

"Creepy..." Makoto said with a look on her face like she'd just seen something disgusting.


	3. Chapter Two

**Oceans of Time**

**~Chapter Two~**

The smell of lavender filled Makoto's nose as she walked into the small room in the back of the chapel where Makoto and the other bride's maids had been getting ready, not an hour before. She saw Aunt Majo staring out the window with an unreadable expression on her face. She approached cautiously, not wanting to further confuse her. She had definitely not expected her to leave Gorō at the altar. Not after all the years they had been together.

"Auntie?" she questioned softly.

A wistful smile tugged the corners of her lips slightly, "Do you think it's wrong to wait for love Makoto? Even if you know all the odds are against it?"

Makoto stood by her and looked out the window at the ocean. The green grass gracefully dancing in the wind such a contrast to the warm sand. The waves softly rolling up against the shore and the magnificent blue sky full of clouds resembling the texture of cotton candy, "No, there's nothing more right than that," and the lavender which grew mostly at the base of the beach, separating here from there.

* * *

"Makoto! Hey Makoto!"

Makoto turned but could not pick out the person calling out to her in the crowded shopping mall.

"MA-KO-TO!" they called again.

This time she spotted the brunette bob amongst the crowd of raven haired people, and began working her way through them.

"Yuri!"

Finally the two old highschool friends met up in front of Freshness Burger.

"I thought we were supposed to meet up in Kinokuniya!" Yuri whined.

"I looked in there but I couldn't find you."

"Did you try looking upstairs?"

"There's an upstairs," Makoto asked with a sheepish smile.

"Ooooh! Makoto!"

"What? I barely ever go to book stores!" Makoto defended herself scratching the back of her head, "Anyway, do you want to go eat? I'm craving teppanyaki."

"I don't understand how you are able to keep your figure."

The two worked their way up to the third floor to Makoto's restaurant of choice.

"So how's school going Makoto?" Yuri asked as the escalator slowly moved them higher.

"Piece of cake, you?" she answered nonchalantly

Yuri sighed, "It's actually a lot harder than I though it would be."

"So hard!" Makoto groaned as her shoulders fell and her head bowed.

Yuri laughed, "How's Kosuke? Do you see him anymore?"

"Yeah, sometimes, only when he comes back from school though," just as had been expected, Kosuke was very accomplished. He was even studying abroad in England in order to better his English, "and even then he seems to always be to busy."

"That's too bad," Yuri said.

Makoto looked forward, "Not really," she smiled, "I'm happy for him. Besides," she was back to being serious again, "being separated by a little distance is nothing!" she said holding her fist out in front of her like she was some great leader, then stumbling, not realizing they had already got to the top.

As Makoto fell a hand reached out and caught her arm and helped her regain her footing.

"Ah, thanks," Makoto said turning to the man who had come to her aid but stopped short, a look of shock gracing her face.

"No problem," he answered, turning to walk away.

"Makoto... Makoto," Yuri tried to get her friends attention, "Makoto we have to move!" she said grabbing her friend below the the shoulder and pulled her out of the way.

Makoto snapped back to reality, "Yuri, I think that man is following me!" Makoto said fearfully.

"Over reacting as usual. He saved you from falling flat on your face!"

"No really! I've seen him before!"

"What?" Yuri asked, skepticism evident on her face.

"He was at the Diner I was at the other Day and he was standing at the top of the escalator since we got on it. Like he was waiting for me to fall," she speculated.

"Now you just sound crazy."

Makoto watched after the man for a few moments before running after him.

"Sorry Yuri, we'll have to get together some other time!"

"What? Makoto!"

Makoto began chasing after the man.

"If you have a stalker you should contact the police! Not confront him!" she called after her. She groaned. Sometimes her friend could be so dense.

Makoto ran outside of the Mall and saw the man crossing the street. She ran to catch up to him but the light turned red.

"Damn!" she cursed under her breath and stomped her foot, "Come on, come on!" she muttered as the cars passed. She stood on her tip toes trying to scout out the man in the crowd. She could see him getting smaller and smaller.

Finally the light tuned green and she raced across the street and down the side walk. She could see his dress hat bobbing among all the other people and she followed it. He turned into an alleyway so quickly that she almost didn't notice. She got there just in time to see him turn the corner. When she got there he was out of site. Makoto sighed. She had got her hopes up.

She began turning around to head back to street and that's how she saw out of the corner of her eye, him sailing down at her, thrusting something at her backside. She was engulfed in a bright light, and that was it.

* * *

**Thank you to my reviewers, LoveDrunkPunky, RuuunItsJasmine, Kyta, TheOne, LoveJackson (He isn't there. That was just the prologue), and plain old anonymous.**


	4. Chapter Three

**Oceans of Time**

**~Chapter Three~**

Makoto gasped as she tumbled forwards landing on her face. That hadn't just happened, she thought as she shakily pushed herself up from the ground. She coughed as she filled her lungs. There was a smell so bad in the air she could taste it. She looked up and found herself to be surrounded by two long rows of buildings that much resembled the appearance of portables at her elementary school. Smog blocked her vision of anything else. Her eyes widened. This wasn't where she had been a minute ago.

"I leapt."

But where? How? She tried pushing herself to her feet but that made her feel nauseated and she fell back down on her hands and knees. Black spots filled her vision and it was getting hard to breathe. She convulsed and threw up what little she had had for breakfast. She fell onto her side to avoid landing in it and clutched her chest. She couldn't figure out what was happening to her. Was this the effect of the time leap? It couldn't be, this hadn't happened all those years ago, the other times she had done it.

She couldn't think anymore, her head was pounding and her lungs were burning. She gasped for air. Each breath made it worse. What was happening?

Just when she was about to pass out she was lifted into the air. When she opened her eyes again she could make out the blurry outline of a orange head of hair hovering above her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

* * *

**10 minutes earlier**

One moment she's being attacked from behind and the next she's on the ground with a face full of grass. She spat the grass and dirt out of her mouth as she quickly stood up to defend herself from her attacker only to find that she was not in the alleyway anymore. Her eyes widened as she spotted two figures embracing up the hill a little ways from where she was standing. They were so focused on each other that they didn't even notice her.

"I'll be waiting in the future," he said.

The girl smiled widely, "I'll come running."

* * *

She screamed as she fell through that all too familiar timeless space. She was surrounded by clocks and absolute whiteness. She plunged downwards into the black strip full of red numbers. The next thing she new was jerking forwards in bed.

She breathed heavily, "Just a dream."

"Hey! You sounded like you were dieing in here," Yuuka said peering in her doorway only to see that the the bed was empty.

"... Freaky..."

* * *

Customers and employees at the book store turned their heads in the direction of a loud bang as magazines fell from a shelf only to see that there was no one there.

* * *

"I'll be waiting in the future," he said.

The girl smiled widely, "I'll come running."

Not this again, Makoto thought as she felt herself jerking forwards once again.

* * *

"Ouch," Makoto screeched as she landed face first on the tarmac. Someone grabbed her arm and hoisted her to her feet. It was the man from earlier.

"Get off me!" she tried pushing him away with her free arm.

He grabbed her wrist and got uncomfortably close to her face.

"It's always difficult to jump out of your timeline for the first time but you just need to focus!"

She froze._ She could see the river, the grass blowing in the wind and the two figures._

"FOCUS!" he said snapping her out of it.

"Don't try to change the outcome of what has already happened!" _The cool breeze..._

_"I'll be waiting in the future..."_

He shook her, "Focus on where you really want to go! Don't focus on what happened in the past! Focus on the future! Focus on _him_!"

_"I'll come running!"_

And she leapt.

* * *

**Just in case it isn't clear, the first section of the chapter is where Makoto ends up after she does all the leaps. The rest of the chapter is looking back. Tell me if that wasn't clear, capish?**

**Big thank you to my reviewers! Yukiko Ami Owari, TheSecretUchiha (Pffft! You pervert you lol. No it wasn't _that_!), OtakuHarunaHimawari, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, TheBlackRabbit, NOBODY loves me123 (I've yet to read the book, just the manga based off it. I really want to though!), and Tbonechick2011.**


	5. Chapter Four

**Oceans of Time**

**~Chapter Four~**

Her eyes processed a dirty brown ceiling before she closed them again as a wave of nausea passed through her. She slowly remembered what had happened before she had fallen asleep as she pushed herself into a sitting position and then she saw him.

"Chiaki."

He turned in his chair and stared at her for a few moments before wheeling it over to her. He did not look pleased.

"How did you get here?"

"What?" Makoto asked distressed.

"You heard me."

"Yeah I heard you! But what I don't understand is how that's all you have to say to me after three years!"

"Seven," Chiaki replied, his face unemotive.

"What?" Makota asked taken aback.

"For me its been seven."

"...Jeez."

His stare was unwavering, "Yeah."

Makoto screwed her face up, "Still doesn't explain why you're not happy to see me."

Chiaki put a hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair and said, "Of course I'm happy to see you idiot," before pushing her backwards.

"GAH!" She tumbled and half somersaulted off the side of the bed and landed on her back.

"What I'm not happy about is that you're here."

"That makes no sense!" she said bolting up.

"Yes it does."

"NO IT DOESN'T-!"

Chiaki put a finger to his lips with a stern look on his face.

Makoto clamped her mouth shut seeing as he looked very serious.

"Keep your voice down."

"Why?" she whispered.

"You don't need to whisper Makoto, just don't scream," he said wheeling himself back over to a screen on his wall. He pressed a button and a hologram of a keyboard appeared in front of him.

Makoto's eyes widened, "Wow!" she got up and raced over to get a better look. She put one hand on the back of the chair and another on her knee and bent down to see.

"I forgot we were in the future for a minute there," she furrowed her brows, "Some of these symbols look like the English alphabet..."

Chiaki glanced at her then back at what he was typing, "It's a mix of Mandarin and English. Some of the symbols changed a bit and there are some new ones in there too."

"What are you typing?"

"I'm hacking the security system in this sector. I have to knock out the cameras and the sensors before we go anywhere."

"Where are we going? ... Chiaki?

"Makoto, you're making it really hard to concentrate."

She made a sour face.

He typed a few more words, "There!" He got up and opened a cabinet above the bed and pulled out two respirators.

"Here put this on," he said handing one to her.

She looked at hers as he pulled his over his head, "What's this for?"

He turned a knob on the front of his and inhaled and exhaled deeply, "The air outside is poison," he stated simply.

"Guh!" She pulled hers over her head but instead of taking it's place on her face, it fell to dangle loosely around her neck. She searched for adjustment straps but there were none. Chiaki took hold of the front and held it against her face and pressed a button at the back which tightened it. He turned the knob on hers and she breathed in sharply.

He turned to put on a shabby pair of boots and as he sat down on the bed to lace them that's when she realize that they matched the rest of his attire. They looked old, faded and dirty, like they hadn't been washed in months. They paled in comparison to the white summer dress she sported. She looked down at herself, not so white anymore. It was covered in mud from earlier.

"I thought clothes were supposed to be shiny in the future."

He looked up at her, "This isn't the ideal future that people in your century dreamed of," He pressed a button on the wall and a door seemed to evaporate out of thin air.

"Whoa! What's that for?"

"Keeps the room air tight."

He turned when the door slid open, "Lets go."

"Where are we going?" she asked walking through it into a room that much resembled a closet. It was small and their bodies were almost touching.

"You'll see," he said typing in a few digits on the wall, "but listen, once we're outside we can't talk and you need to be very _very_ quiet."

Makoto gulped and nodded.

The door to the room slid shut and slowly the outlines disappeared.

"Hey Chiaki?"

"Yeah?"

"Your accent's back."

"Really?"

"Mm."

"Well I haven't spoken Japanese in years," he answered.

"Guess not..."

They were silent as they waited for the other door to open. When it finally did they were met by a strong gust of wind.

"There's going to be a storm soon so we've got to move quick," Chiaki said grabbing her hand and pulled her along behind him.

Everything looked the same. All the buildings were the same square size, dingy brown colour, and equally spaced apart from each other. The landscape didn't change as they quickly made their way across the muddy ground. Mud that her ballet flats didn't provide much protection from.

After running at a fast pace for a few minutes they stopped at one of the generic looking buildings. Makoto collapsed against the wall as Chiaki pressed a button repeatedly. Finally the door slid open and they stepped inside.

Makoto gasped as she found herself assaulted by blue fumes from all angles.

"They're detoxifying the air," Chiaki explained.

The inside door finally opened up and Makoto found that the interior of the buildings matched just as the exterior did.

"Jeez man could you be anymore impatient?" A man with dark brown hair asked while pointing a screw driver he he held at him. He had safety goggles perched atop his head and he was working away at something.

"Is it ready yet?" Chiaki asked completely ignoring the question. He took his respirator off and she did the same.

"Almost, have her ready to go. We need to be quick. This shack doesn't provide life support for three," he said turning back to a bunch of gadgets he had on his desk.

"Ready for what?" Makoto asked.

"You'll see."

She pouted.

"Alright, here yeah go!" The brunette said handing a ball of cloth to Chiaki.

"Hold out your hand Makoto."

Confused, she did as she was told.

"Makoto look at me."

When she did she was met by two icy cold eyes.

"Don't come back," he said and with that he loosened his grip on the cloth and a round object fell out. She gasped as the cold metal came in contact with her palm.

"NO!" she cried as his face faded away and she began to fall through space.

* * *

**What helps to inspire this story? The Ergo Proxy soundtrack. It has that distinct action and post apocalyptic feel that I'm looking for when writing this.**

**Thank you for the reviews Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, OtakuHarunaHimawari, Shizuku Tsukishima749, and anonymous.**


	6. Chapter Five

**Oceans of Time**

**~Chapter Five~**

Makoto bolted up. She was breathing heavily and was covered in a cold sweat.

"Just a dream," she choked before falling back on her mattress and buried her face in her hands.

"Hey!" Yuuka said peering in her doorway, "You sounded like you were dieing in here... Makoto?" she asked going to her side after seeing her friend in such a distressed state.

"Makoto what's wrong?" she asked rubbing her shoulder.

"It's nothing," Makoto said shaking her head which was still covered by her hands, "Just a horrible horrible dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I just want to go back to sleep and forget it."

"Alright, you do that but hold the sleep. We have a class in thirty minutes."

"WHAT?" Yuuka jumped to avoid Makoto's arm which shot out as she bolted up from bed and ran to the washroom picking random items of clothing off of her floor as she went.

"Why didn't you wake me!" she asked as she splashed cold water all over her face.

"I just got back from a lecture!"

Makoto looked at her face in the mirror. The skin around her eyes was still red and puffy, resembling the appearance of a raccoon.

"Gaaaah! I'm going to be late!" she shouted leaping into the shower.

* * *

"AH!" Makoto woke as she tumbled off her bed. She rolled on her side to untangle herself from her sheet and pulled her alarm down from it's place on her desk and brought it right up to her face. The red numbers read four o'clock in the morning.

She stood up, "Wake up!" she said slapping herself across the face. That was followed by a loud ouch as she cupped her sore cheek. Looks like she was awake this time. She turned on the lamp and began pacing around the room.

She didn`t want to go back to sleep. She thought maybe she could use this time to work on her mid term paper. No, she couldn`t concentrate. She grabbed her coat and her keys and went out the door.

She began walking with no direction in mind. She kept her eyes on the ground and concentrated on the amount of steps she was taking to keep her mind clear of anything else. But it wasn't working. She began walking faster until she was jogging and soon that turned into a full out sprint. She hadn't run this long or this fast since the last time she had seen...

She ran aimlessly. She didn't care or know where she was going. That's why it came as such a surprise when she ended up on the path by the river. The last place she had seen him. The place where their story had ended. The place where their paths went completely different directions. Forever.

Makoto screamed loud and long, hand spread out at her sides just getting it all out. So loud that surely someone would call the police for fear that someone was being brutally murdered. And when she was done screaming she kicked a rock into the water and screamed again which ended in a pitiful whimper as she sunk down to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Then she began sobbing. Body shaking, long and uncontrollable sobs.

It had been three years! Three extremely long years. She had dated other people. Heck! They had never even been a couple! So why did she still feel this way? Hadn't her heart had long enough to heal? Or was she going to be stuck on this boy forever. This boy from the future. This boy that she couldn't have because the laws of physics or time or something forbade it. She just couldn't have him.

"You past the test," a voice said from above her.

Makoto gasped loudly and jumped back, "You!" it was the man from before, the one who had helped her leap to the future. Makoto sat there dumbstruck for a few moments before scrambling up and gripped the fabric of his jacket in desperation, "So it wasn't a dream!"

"It was not and now you are able to leap out of your timeline."

Makoto's eyes widened in realization, "I can go back!"

The man nodded, "But be weary Makoto," he said turning her around. She blushed as his fingers grazed her neck pulling her hair out of the way.

"You only have 50 leaps left. Do not use the foolishly like last time."

Makoto turned around ready to rebut but he was gone.

The cool breeze felt good against her hot skin. Every sensation seemed heightened. She stood there realizing the full potential of the situation. Without another thought she disappeared into the night air as well.

* * *

**If you like War of the Worlds (2005) and the scrumptious Robbie then you should check out my fanfic 'At Worlds End.' It's a horror/romance/action and semi-adventure fanfic. It follows the story of Robbie after he splits up with his father Ray and his sister Rachel in the movie. 'The telling of Robbie's journey after he breaks away from Rachel and Ray. He begins to realize the true horrors of the tripods and just how helpless he really is.' It begins right in the battle field where he meets the very talkative Betty. Not as Mary-Sue as it sounds I promise ;D**

**I know this chapter is much shorter than the last one but I wanted to update before things get really hectic at school. Thanks everyone who read and reviewed!**


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